


Pig

by Space_Conspiracy



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Danny and Amanda have a conversation, References to Previous Self Harm, References to previous drug use, references to Halloween (1978), references to Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), references to Saw III, shitting on John Kramer, thats it that’s the story, unbeta’d
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27972245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Conspiracy/pseuds/Space_Conspiracy
Summary: Amanda contemplates her change in philosophy since joining the Entity’s realm
Kudos: 32





	Pig

To say that Amanda is a bad person would be an understatement. 

It’s one of the things she’s come to terms with since her “death”. She’s had endless hours of tinkering with her traps, hunting survivors and aimless wandering through the meat packing plant, contemplating her life and undeath. 

Amanda sits at her workbench, screwdriver in hand, as she ruminates about things she’s thought about hundreds of times before. Jigsaw’s philosophy, _John's_ philosophy, was that a near death experience will make you change your ideals, stop supposed wicked ways. Amanda knew, for a fact, that people don’t change. She was a shining example of that. Bad people deserved to be punished, plain and simple. 

Amanda tightens a screw on the reverse beatrap in her hand and pokes the mechanism with the tip of the screwdriver, the jaws snapping open with a sharp _thwip_. Too sensitive. 

Before her death, John had tested a father lost in his grief following his son’s death. Amanda did not consider Jeff to be a bad person, only a man heartbroken over the loss of his son and the failings of the legal system. She had been too caught up in her own drama to be dubious at the time, but time had made her wonder. What lesson was Jeff suppose to learn? Forgiveness? Victims shouldn’t be forced to forgive those who have wronged them, and anger was no sin. 

Amanda fiddled with a few more screws and set the mechanism again, waiting with her arms and chin resting on her desk, counting silently. After two minutes, the trap snapped open once again, causing the young woman to smile. She set the trap aside and reached for a stubby pencil, beginning to make annotations on a blueprint. 

John was wrong. By extension, that made Amanda and Hoffman wrong, but at least she hadn’t been kidding herself when she had set up her own games. 

The Entity’s trials would have tickled John pink. All of the survivors had something about them that would have warranted a game in John’s eyes, and what better way to punish people with normal problems than endless cycles of hunting and death? When she had first woken in the forest, before she had stumbled into the meat packing plant and made it her home, the Entity had whispered sweetly in her ear, tenderly telling her all about the survivors, how they had wasted their lives, and that this was their test. That their death and rebirth would make them change their ways, just as she’d been taught. She’d believed it, at first, but it wasn’t long until she’d seen the same red head she’d killed three trials previously sprinting across the cornfield with laughter bubbling on her lips as she’d looped Amanda for a good three minutes, much like she’d done previously. It had been extremely embarrassing but it had made her realise that these survivors weren’t going to change their ways like John had preached. Survivors would do the same damn thing, time and time again, if it meant they survived the trial. 

Out of the corner of her eye, one of the security camera feeds pinged as the motion detector picked up movement. She scrutinised the grainy screen, squinting as she searched for details in the black and white shadows. She was just about to dismiss it as one of the Entity’s crows, but- Ah yes. The slight flickering of fabric as a hooded figure with a white mask crept around a corner and out of view. Ghost Face. What a deplorable asshole. Certainly someone who deserved a game, even by her standards. Not that he was much different from any of the other killers Amanda shared her afterlife with. She’d gathered, based off Ghost Face’s rumour mongering anyway, that at least half of the killers were victims of chance, caught in a moment of extreme weakness as they did what was right or died to something far out of their control. The rest, Ghost Face and herself included, deserved whatever punishment they got. 

Amanda finished her annotations and pulled one of her side projects forward, keeping an idle ear out for her unwanted guest’s approach. In a fit of extreme stupidity she’d decided to sneak her way onto the MacMillan property and take one of the brute’s bear traps, intending to study the mechanism. That had been some time ago, and while she’d more or less exhausted what study she could do with the trap, she’d decided it even more stupid to return the thing. So, for now, she idly tinkered with the trap and avoided MacMillan as if her life depended on it (which it probably did). She wondered what his game would entail, what his punishment should be. She didn’t have a lot on the man but she liked to imagine that regardless of his sins, it would involve a lot of bear traps. 

Behind her came the tell tale rustle of fabric, the slight scrape of a leather boot. She wrinkled her nose with distaste. 

“You’re getting sloppy Ghost Face,” she said, her attention fixed on the mechanism in front of her. A few deft movements unhooked the spring, allowing her to test the pressure mechanism without fear of losing her hand. 

“Maybe I wanted you to hear me.” His voice was uncomfortably closer than she’d judged, smooth and arrogant. He smelled of cloying flowers today. 

“I find that unlikely.” 

She turned to face the man next to her, stark white mask out of place in the grime and filth of her workshop. He’d been leaning over her shoulder but straightened with her movement. 

“I found out some interesting things today dear Amanda, did you want to hear?” He asked, a lilt to his voice. 

“Not really but I know you’ll tell me anyway.”

“Of course I will Amanda. All you do is mope in this workshop and play with your traps, you deserve a little fun.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. 

“I went and got this,” she replied irritably, tapping the bear trap in front of her. 

“And I can only imagine what dear Evan would say if he found out,” he said smoothly, hoisting himself onto her work bench and kicking his legs gleefully. “Fascinating stories the survivors have. Did you know that Laurie and Michael are related?”

Amanda did know. The eavesdropping hasn’t been intentional, but during a scavenging trip in Autohaven she’d overheard the stab happy girl telling one of her friends, one whose name she didn’t know but was always easy to catch, that the Shape, Michael Myers, was her older brother. The conversation had been quiet, strained as Laurie had recounted the events of Halloween 1978, and Amanda couldn’t help but place Michael at the top of her game list. 

Amanda regarded Ghost Face impassivelyas he continued his monologue. 

“Yeah, fascinating stuff. Murdered _his_ older sister when he was six because the voices in his head told him to. Got sent to an asylum but, get this, _broke out_ to finish the job with Laurie. Real nutcase.”

She frowned slightly. 

“It sounds like he was sick more than anything,” she said slowly. Ghost Face let out a short bark of laughter and looked at her as incredulously as the frozen expression of his mask would allow. 

Amanda had no experience with mental illness but she remembered her days of addiction. How the only thing that mattered was her next fix, how she’d do anything to get it. She wondered, briefly, what the voices were saying to him that had led him to kill so many people. 

“That’s cute Amanda. Maybe if he’s sick you should put him through one of your games, get him to change his wicked ways by nearly killing him?” His voice was mocking. 

“That was John’s philosophy,” she replied shortly. “Sick people need help, _proper_ help,” she emphasised. 

Ghost Face made a scoffing noise and leaned back, jiggling his leg. He seemed to be enjoying himself. 

“What else did I hear... oh yes! Turns out Freddy Krueger isn’t just a child murderer. Quentin-“ Amanda gave him a blank look but he plowed on regardless “-said the man was having his fun with the preschoolers first.” He wiggled his fingers crudely and Amanda gave him a disgusted look. Child murder was pretty bad but- Amanda shivered and gagged. 

“So how do you torture a dream demon anyway?” She murmured, already reaching for a blank sheet of paper and her pencil. 

“Latch onto him in the dream then wake up. Pulls him into the real world so you can gut him.” Ghost Face leaned over as Amanda began sketching out the vague outlines of a boiler room. She’d only ever seen the pepperoni pizza demon once and from a distance and taken an instant dislike to him, a sentiment she apparently shared with just about everyone she’d had a conversation with. The story that she’d gotten, bits and pieces from a number of different sources, had all indicated that the man had been burned alive, so fire and steam seemed like a good place to start with designing his game. She wondered if his death would stick. 

“You designing another game?” Ghost Face asked curiously. “You do that for all our colleagues?”

“Just the ones who need punishing.” She gave the man a very pointed look. 

He gave a nonchalant shrug. He’d been very open with her about his past deeds, loving to regale her with the many victims he’d stalked, killed and reported on before being plucked by the Entity. He was extraordinarily proud of himself, bragging and embellishing outrageously even when she’d admitted she thought he deserved a game of his own. 

“Who deserves a game then?” He asked as he watched her work. 

Amanda tapped her pencil as she mentally sorted through her list. 

“Freddy, obviously. MacMillan. Myers,-“ she tilted her hand from side to side to indicate her uncertainty “- although considering what you’ve just told me he probably just needs a good therapist and a lot of pills. The Doctor almost certainly. That Cannibal freak certainly deserves a pound of flesh taken from him.” She chuckled darkly and made a sweeping stroke across the page. “That Clown.Those Legion kids maybe. Definitely Frank and his girlfriend.” 

She briefly imagine the kind of trap that would require one of them to give something up to save the other or participate in some sick sense of team work. “Mind you, you told me that janitor they killed was an accident.”

Ghost Face shrugged. 

“They definitely didn’t break into that store with murder as top priority.”

Amanda hummed. 

“Who else... oh, Quinn probably too, although he’s a pretty good engineer. John would have given him an escapable trap and tried to snap him up on the flip side.” Amanda scribbled a few notes on her sketchand tapped her pencil a few times. “Can’t forget you either Ghost Face, your sins definitely deserve punishment.”

He gave a motion of mock outrage, his leg thumping firmly against the table leg. 

“You wound me Mandy,” he laughed. 

Amanda froze, she hadn’t been called Mandy in years. 

“Oh I did forget to mention? That policeman, what was his name...” she could hear the smug smile in his voice. “Tapp that’s the one. Tapp was telling his story about his run in with Jigsaw, and a young woman who couldn’t stand to be called anything but Mandy since her own game. Had a reverse bear trap placed on her head and was forced to kill a man for her freedom. And that she was _thankful_ to Jigsaw. Said he made her value her life all the more.” His voice contain a mocking lilt and he leaned over until he was resting his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. 

Amanda flushed red, her nails digging deep into the wood of the bench. 

“He ruined my life!” She forced out. She’d been so lost back then, when John had taken her under his wing. Traumatised, alone, only to have someone who told her he understood, that she’d learnt her lesson and was a better person now. And what better way to live her new life than helping others realise the same thing she had. 

Ghost Face laughed. 

“Poor little Mandy, so utterly dependent on John Kramer for the love and affection she so desperately craved. Willing to do anything for the man. That is until you broke his trust, betrayed his philosophy. Became just a common mur-“

She was up in a flash, the force knocking over her chair and sending him reeling back in surprise. One hand was on his shoulder, the other poised at his eye, just close enough that the flick of her wrist would send the spring loaded blade into the soft flesh of his eye. 

“I do not kill for the cheap thrill of it Ghost Face,” she said, voice low and fierce. “I kill to protect, and I kill to punish. John believed himself some kind of saviour but I know that those who really _truly_ deserve a game do not deserve a second chance.”

Ghost Face’s breathing was ragged as he carefully extricated himself from her grip, slowly backing away. 

“Get out Ghost Face, before I make your game a reality.”

He hesitated, clearly annoyed he hadn’t been able to have the last word, but nodded stiffly. 

“I’ll see ya ‘round Mandy,” he called as he turned. 

“I wish you wouldn’t!” She yelled back, already turning back to her workstation. Ghost Face would return with more gossip no doubt, but for now it was only her and her contraptions, and the games she planned for her fellow killers. 

**Author's Note:**

> I know, canonically, Amanda is pretty chill working for the Entity and continuing to work for John but I think that it would be more interesting if she continued her disillusionment from the film. Of the two people we know she puts in inescapable traps, one is a repeat offender (to punish) and the other is a cop on the Jigsaw case (to protect). From what I understand, we know that she doesn’t believe that people change (she herself doesn’t by simply jumping from drug use to self harm, forms of self destructive habits) so I think she’s much more likely to be sympathetic to people with smaller, more mundane problems. Punishing a grieving father is just so sick, especially considering that Jeff is really doing anything wrong and simply refusing to move on. Amanda seems like the type to look at the killers around her and think “oh these are the kind of people who need to be punished” vs the survivors whose worst offence is like, chose to be a bouncer instead of living a boring wealthy life? Jigsaw’s philosophy is fucked up is what I’m saying and the people he targets for the majority of his games usually have slightly worse than average problems and bad problem solving skills/personality types to get over them. 
> 
> The people Amanda decides are worthy of a game is based on rumour and hearsay from talking to the people around her. She gives people like Philip or Max a bit of leeway due to circumstances, Adiris and Lisa get a pass because she can’t get the story out of them and Pyramid Head and the Demogorgon are literally monsters. I’m in the firm camp of “Michael Myers was just a sick child who needed help but was instead called a monster for the majority of his life” (thanks Ziracona) so I think that without knowing the full story, Amanda would think he’s just a terrible person who kills for no reason. Context matters to her.   
> She gets her information mostly from Danny because he won’t shut the fuck up, I usually see these two getting along well enough in fics that it doesn’t bother me including it here. I think she’d also get along reasonably well with Quinn, he’d be able to provide some interesting engineering insight into her traps regardless of the difference in time periods.


End file.
